Why Sonisphere loss is such a big deal

Sonisphere organisers today revealed that the 2012 event had been cancelled. It's not the first of 2012 to fall, already Oxeygen and The Big Chill have pulled out of this year's festival scene - and of course, Glastonbury is taking a pre-planned year off.

But the loss of Sonisphere is a big deal - and not just for the rock fans it catered for, but the UK festival scene as a whole.

The days of genre-specific festivals seems to be over. More and more, festival line-ups are indistinguishable from one another, as artists sign up to play wherever, to whoever, in order to promote their current album, DVD or range of bed linen. Even Reading and Leeds, long considered one of the UK's more rock orientated festivals, delivers a surprisingly mainstream line-up this year - offering big names but no major surprises.

Sonisphere offered something unique. It held firm to its roots and offered a line-up like no other in the UK. Rock legends Kiss, Faith No More, Queen, Marilyn Manson, Incubus and many more were on the bill. Book tickets for this festival and you knew exactly what you were in for - a weekend of non-stop rock and roll. Now, fans will inevitably have to water down their festival experience, and head to a more mainstream event, carefully selecting which acts to see and which to avoid.

That festival goers can party together is a good thing. Where once, clubbers and rockers would never be seen in the same field, genres and tastes have blurred so greatly over the past few years that no wonder more electronic acts are creeping higher and higher up the bill on what are historically seen as guitar-based summer events. But the increasing similarities between festival line-ups is not a good thing. Where once music fans would study line-ups and pick the festival best suited to them, now it's a case of sticking a pin in the festival map - and then sorting out which bands you want to see when you get there.

Different festival goers want different things. Rock fans are more likely to wait in the rain for their music idols to take to the stage while dance fans are happier crammed in a sweaty tent waiting for their latest favourite DJ to take to the decks - and despite music fans being more open minded than ever, these are two very different festival experiences. Perhaps the only true time these two tribes can mix is in the food/beer/toilet queues - as important a part of the festival experience as music has ever been. So to lose a festival that catered so specifically to just one side of that divide is a major disappointment, and signals that more dedicated events may also suffer the same fate in coming years as they struggle to compete with the booking of names from the current Top Forty.

Perhaps it is better for Sonisphere to bow out while holding firm to their roots and true to their fans rather than dilute the experience offered by attempting to compete with the mainstream and offer chart acts in an attempt to draw bigger, less discerning crowds. Sonisphere, we salute you. Your presence will be missed. All eyes are on Download to keep the flag flying...